Day 7 - Reconciled by the Blood of His Cross (Col 1:19-20)

¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:19-20

The Dwelling Place of God

The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in the person of Jesus. Holiness, wisdom, grace, creativity, authority, power, excellence, mercy, justice, love…all power and attributes. How tightly it all was squeezed into the constraints of human flesh during His short 33 years on earth. And during this time, He completed what He came to do…what was set apart for Him from the beginning. Who He created Himself to be and do.  A way to reconcile us back to Himself through the blood of His cross.

God actively and continuously pursues us. From the Fall in Genesis 3 to Revelation, God is drawing closer to us to bring us back to Genesis 1…the beginning, when God’s creation walked and talked and dwelt with God without constraints. He longs to dwell with us again.

In the Old Testament, God dwelt in the tabernacle tent and later the temple, constructed according to meticulous details and instructions (Exodus chapters 25-40!).

⁸ And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.⁹ Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. Exodus 25:9-9

Tucked deep in the temple was the Holy of Holies behind a thick curtain that only the high priest…only once a year…could enter. He entered once a year to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people. Access to the presence of God and the forgiveness of sins was only available via the high priest. And the forgiveness of sins was temporary.

For over a thousand years, this is how the people of God would approach Him. One high priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement. The high priest would cleanse himself, put on special garments, and then sacrifice a bull for him and his family. The blood of the bull would be sprinkled over the Ark of the Covenant (which contained the 10 Commandment tablets, Aarons staff, and some manna...symbols of the law, the miracles, and the provisions). He would then take two goats and one would be sacrificed for the sins of the people. The other was called the scapegoat. It would be released into the wilderness, carrying off the sins of the people, which were forgiven for a year.

Fast forward to the New Testament and the account of Jesus entering the world. God in the flesh. The presence of God – God Himself – getting closer to His people.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Jesus refers to His body as the temple…

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. John 2:19-22

Where God dwelt with the Israelites in the temple, He now dwells in the person of Jesus. And when Jesus fulfilled His mission here on earth, the presence of God was released from the confines of the Holy of Holies. The curtain no longer separated God from His people…

⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. ⁵¹ And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. Matthew 27:50-51

Jesus was everything the Old Testament was pointing to, both in the way of fulfilled prophesies and in what he accomplishes. He is the great high priest, above all others that went before Him in the temple, and none are needed after Him.

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. Hebrews 8:1-2

His sacrifice sets us free, like the two goats on the Day of Atonement.  But His sacrifice was perfect and complete and permanent. Only something God Himself could accomplish.

Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit who will come when He leaves and dwell in us…

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16

God is getting closer to His people. First in the person of Jesus, then in the Holy Spirit within us when we choose to surrender our life to Jesus. For now, we live in this earthy tent, grateful for God in the person of the Holy Spirit in us, but still longing for a time to come when we will again dwell face to face with our God.

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³ if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.  2 Corinthians 5:1-3

The entire Bible is the story of God’s plans unfolding. The promise of a new heaven and new earth, a new dwelling place with God for eternity, is in the final chapters of God’s word.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

I could read that All. Day. Long.

Reconciled by the Blood of His Cross

We have the power of the Holy Spirit now and the hope for an eternal new dwelling because of the blood of Jesus on the cross. The final and perfect sacrifice all the others before pointed toward. The perfect lamb that was slain so eternal death would “Passover” us. The great high priest who was the sacrifice and who made the sacrifice.

Reconciliation implies going back to something that once was. The new heaven and new earth where we dwell with God as in the early days of creation. We are reconciled to God because the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus, the blood of His cross, the Lamb that was slain, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the One who conquered sin and death, the One who is worthy.

I’ll close with the entire 5^th chapter of Revelation…

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴ and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, ¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5:1-14

Today I will make this song my prayer and my worship...

(Revelation Song by Kari Jobe)